Army leadership deferred questions regarding a Confederate flag ban to the Pentagon saying they have suggested the new policy to Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and are currently awaiting a response.
Secretary of the Army Ryan McCarthy told reporters Thursday that the Pentagon is considering a uniform policy decision that would sweepingly apply across the entire Department of Defense. While that policy is being considered, the Army has chosen not to move forward with any Confederate symbol ban of its own, McCarthy explained.
While the Army chooses to wait on the Pentagon to ban the Confederate flag, the Marine Corps and the Navy moved forward with bans of their own. The Marine Corps first announced its Confederate flag ban in February.
Navy follows Marine Corps's ban on Confederate flags
United States Forces Korea, commanded by Army General Robert Abrams, similarly moved forward with its own Confederate flag ban two weeks ago.
“The Confederate Battle Flag does not represent the values of U.S. Forces assigned to serve in the Republic of Korea,” Abrams wrote in a memo. “While I acknowledge some might view it as a symbol of regional pride, many others in our force see it as a painful reminder of hate, bigotry, treason and devaluation of humanity.”
Unlike the Navy and the Marine Corps, banning Confederate symbols in the Army would involve the renaming of 10 installations that carry Confederate names -- a hotly contested debate.
President Donald Trump all but vetoed the suggestion while members of Congress and military leaders have voiced various versions of support for renaming the forts.
Bipartisan bill aims to bypass Trump's ban on renaming forts honoring Confederate generalsArmy open to ‘discussions’ about renaming 10 bases named for Confederate troops
Army leaders said, beginning in June, that there would be "conversations" in the coming weeks about the possibility of changing these names.
“There’s a lot of discussions up in the Congress about this effort, about potentially a bipartisan panel that would go through this,” McCarthy said. “And in the Department of Defense, Secretary Esper wants us to look at all of these challenges that are potentially in front of us, and have deliberate conversations so we can provide the best recommendations as possible.”
These considerations are part of the Army's new "Project Inclusion" which also mandated the removal of Department of the Army photos from promotion boards, a 60-day review of racial biases within the Army's justice system, and elevated training on unconscious biases.
Army removes photos from promotion boards in effort to eliminate bias
"This will be an enduring effort for the Army ... we will continue to improve ourselves," McCarthy said.
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Reach Elizabeth Howe on Twitter @ECBHowe.
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